Guidelines

Department of Education research and evaluation information products should,
at a minimum:

Clearly state the goals or purpose of the topic in question;

Pose the research or evaluation question in a balanced and unbiased manner;

Provide an unbiased test of the question;

Have a research study approach or data collection technique that is well
thought out, designed to use state of the art methodologies in the data collection,
and be clearly described in the study documentation;

Present conclusions that are strongly supported by the data;

Clearly identify data sources, if applicable;

Confirm and document the reliability of the data, and acknowledge any shortcomings
or explicit errors in any data that is included; and

Undergo peer review.

Department of Education research and evaluation information products documenting
cause and effect relationships or evidence of effectiveness should meet the
quality standards that will be developed as part of the What
Works Clearinghouse.